If you thought you heard a dog barking inside the Moda Center Sunday night, know that your ears weren’t playing tricks on you.
That sound was coming from Boston’s lovable “Korn Dog,” whose celebratory cry rang out in Portland to signal the coming of a 129-116 Celtics win.
Luke Kornet has been leading the vocal charge for the best pack of road dogs in the NBA. The canine C’s have now woofed their way to an NBA-leading 28 victories away from home, including 12 wins in their last 13 road games over the last two full months.
Portland heard the Korn Dog loud and clear midway through the fourth quarter when he soared up for a left-pawed put-back slam before bounding back on defense, bellowing like a beagle the whole way.
“He’s a dog,” Sam Hauser explained matter-of-factly after the game. “Luke’s a dog, so he just barks when he does dog things.”
Kornet resembled Kareem Abdul-Jabbark during Sunday’s performance, as he made all six of his shot attempts inside the paint, finishing with 13 points, five rebounds, and three assists in 19 minutes off the bench.
He was one of several Celtics who stepped up to help fill the voids of three top dogs – Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday, and Kristaps Porzingis – missing on the first night of a back-to-back.
Hauser balled out – or pawled out – as well, shooting 8-of-10 from 3-point range as part of a 24-point effort in a starting role.
Payton Pritchard earned his first start of the season in his hometown and, despite getting whistled for three fouls in the first five minutes, finished with 16 points (including the 3,000th point of his career), four rebounds, and five assists.
Derrick White also hit a career milestone with his 2,000th assist as part of a 17-point, three-rebound, eight-assist, two-steal effort.
Al Horford stepped up in Porzingis’ absence and delivered 14 points and six rebounds.
Rookie wing Baylor Scheierman delivered some big first-quarter minutes, logging six points, five rebounds, and three assists, and JD Davison made some impressive plays in the opening frame, as well.
The main dog of the night, unsurprisingly, was Jayson Tatum, who came just one rebound and one assist shy of a triple-double. He finished with 30 points, nine rebounds, nine assists, two blocks, and one steal, and was a game-best plus-16 in 37 minutes of action.
With the 13-point win, the Celtics upped their road-scoring differential to +9.49, the third-best mark of all time behind the 1971-72 Lakers (+11.32), and this year’s Oklahoma City Thunder (+10.09).
The road dogs will have another opportunity to increase that differential Monday night in Sacramento. So Kornet better rest up those vocal cords overnight.
